2026 tax year · US · Updated May 24, 2026

Compare Self-Employment Taxes by State

Thinking about where to base your side hustle? Enter your net profit and pick two states to see the 2026 state income tax difference on your take-home — side by side. Federal self-employment tax is the same everywhere, so this isolates what actually changes between states.

Runs entirely in your browser — your numbers are never sent to a server.

$
Your side hustle income after business expenses and mileage.
Self-employment tax
−$5,652
California income tax
−$851
Take-home
$33,497
Self-employment tax
−$5,652
Texas income tax
$0
Take-home
$34,348
Keeps more

On $40,000 of net profit, you’d keep $851/year more in Texas — purely from the difference in state income tax. Federal self-employment tax (15.3%) is identical in both states.

Estimates for single filers using 2026 state brackets; excludes state standard deductions, credits, and local income taxes. Federal income tax is the same in both states at equal income, so it’s left out of this comparison. Not tax advice.

How state income tax affects self-employment income

Your side hustle profit flows onto your personal return and is taxed by your state the same way wages are. Nine states — Alaska, Florida, Nevada, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, and Wyoming — have no personal income tax, so self-employed people there owe only federal tax. At the other end, California tops out at 13.3% and New York at 10.9%. The full 2026 brackets are on each state’s page (official tables linked there).

The gap is real money for a profitable hustle. On $80,000 of net profit, the difference between a no-tax state and a high-tax state can exceed $4,000 a year in state income tax alone — before considering cost of living, sales tax, and property tax, which can erase or widen the gap.

Want the full federal picture for one state? Use the Side Hustle Calculator to stack every income stream with self-employment tax, mileage, and your state’s brackets.

Where these numbers come from

State tax is estimated by running the same income through each state's 2026 single-filer brackets. The bracket tables are transcribed from this compilation and cross-checked against state revenue departments when a state changes rates mid-year:

Constants last verified against these sources on June 10, 2026. Every value is also pinned by an automated test suite that fails if a rate in the calculator drifts from the figure we transcribed from the source.

Frequently asked questions

Does moving to a no-income-tax state really save money on a side hustle?
On state income tax, yes — states like Texas, Florida, and Washington levy no personal income tax, so on the same net profit you keep more than you would in California or New York. But federal self-employment tax (15.3%) and federal income tax are identical everywhere, so the savings are limited to the state portion. Cost of living and other state taxes (sales, property) also matter for the full picture.
Why is federal tax left out of this comparison?
Federal self-employment tax and federal income tax depend on your income and filing status, not your state, so they're the same in both columns at equal income. Removing them isolates the one thing that actually differs between states — state income tax — so the comparison is apples-to-apples.
Which state's rate applies if I move mid-year?
Generally you owe state income tax to each state for the portion of the year you were a resident there (part-year resident returns), and possibly to states where you earned income. This tool compares full-year residency in each state. If you move mid-year, consult a CPA — multi-state returns get complicated quickly.

Other free calculators